 | Review and photography by Alex Stojanovic (C) 2025 All rights reserved by MetalMasterKingdom.com POWERWOLF w/ DragonForce @ Rebel Toronto, ON, Canada September 17, 2025 There's a good amount of bands from Europe that have gotten really successful and have had a long career, but in their career, have never toured North America, and stuck primarily with Europe. Powerwolf was one of those bands for a really really long time. Fans in North America have been BEGGING them to come play here for years and years, and from what I heard, they passed on every opportunity including one-off festivals (that's just my speculation). However, that changed in 2023, when they did their first ever shows in North America, and the same goes for their fans in South America as well. |
Shows were selling out like hot cakes, and that was a wake-up call for the band, because they booked another round of shows in 2024, but the problem was that the only Canadian city they played on both initial runs was in Montreal. As we sit here now in 2025, the band have announced a third round of N.A dates with all new cities, including 4 new Canadian cities for them, and DragonForce are on board as special guests. Toronto was the lucky chosen few and was chosen to be the tour's kickoff city on September 17 at Rebel. The lineup of fans on Polson Pier was enormous, as it went all the way down the street.
| DragonForce started the night off with their signature video-game themed power metal. With their two big inflatable dragon heads and two giant arcade cabinets on either side of the stage, both of which have become permanent features as part of their stage set in the last couple of years, and all set up in front of Powerwolf's riser, they had just enough room on the stage to move around comfortably without being squeezed at the front like sardines. Their 8-song setlist consisted of mainly songs from their latest album Warp Speed Warriors and three classics. They riled the crowd into a frenzy as they kicked off their set with "Cry Thunder" and unleashed their trademark goofball antics throughout the set, like having the audience bounce around a stuffed chicken during "Power Of The Triforce", asking the moshers to do push-ups during the bridge of "Space Marine Corp", and asking people to dance during "Doomsday Party" (I mean, that is a danceable song). | DRAGONFORCE Photo credit: Alex Stojanovic / (C) 2025 MetalMasterKingdom.com |
Over the last couple of years, whenever the band hits Toronto, they always bring out YouTube guitar nerd Stevie T. to guest on a couple of songs, and they did it again at this show, and I can see that becoming a Toronto tradition for the band from now on. For Stevie, it was a special occasion because he had his first experience in a mosh pit, all while playing guitar, and of all the songs to mosh to, it went down during the band's cover of Taylor Swift's "Wildest Dreams". While the primary focus of the set may have been on the new stuff, it wouldn't be a DragonForce show without some of the standard classics, and the ones we got were "Fury Of The Storm" and the ultimate closer "Through The Fire & Flames", which Marc Hudson jokingly started naming off the games and movies that the song has made an appearance in. The best part of his speech was how he named the less obvious ones first before the famous one (and all you know which game I'm referring to).
| POWERWOLF Photo credit: Alex Stojanovic / (C) 2025 MetalMasterKingdom.com | Now, it was time for the moment that was 20 years in the making for the Wolves of Toronto, and that was to celebrate the holy heavy metal mass of Powerwolf. The mass began with the band getting a wild cheer as they entered the stage and fired off into "Bless 'Em With The Blade". With a set that lasted for a good 2 hours, they tore their way through a bunch of their finest songs, both old and new. The audience also consisted of a wide variety of age groups, including youngsters around ages 10 and under, which is always a great sight to see. Attila Dorn's vocal prowess proves why he's got one of the best and most unique voices in metal. He has so much power in his voice, it wouldn't surprise me if the people on Center Island heard him. I mean, the man is a trained opera singer. Between songs, he had a bunch of entertaining banter for the crowd, and with some help from Falk Maria Schlegel, got the crowd involved in some rather humourous antics. Let's face it, aside from being the keyboardist, Schlegel is the band's hypeman. |
Song-wise, it was one crowd-chanting anthem after the other, and we were treated to some good ones in their catalog like "Incense & Iron", "Army Of The Night", "Armata Strigoi", "Demons Are A Girl's Best Friend", "Dancing With The Dead", "Amen & Attack" and "1589" just to name a few. In the encore, they blessed us with "Sanctified With Dynamite", "We Drink Your Blood", and the set closed with "Werewolves Of Armenia". The only song I wish they included was "Blessed & Possessed".
In closing, Powerwolf's Toronto debut proved to be a monumental moment for many, as it attracted many out-of-towners as well, including many from Montreal who already got to see them on their last two visits there, and we can all highly hope that the massive reaction made it clear to the band that they need to bring the holy heavy metal mass back to our city in the future and not make this a one-time event. There are only a limited amount of cities on this tour, so if you get the opportunity to see it, do it.
In closing, Powerwolf's Toronto debut proved to be a monumental moment for many, as it attracted many out-of-towners as well, including many from Montreal who already got to see them on their last two visits there, and we can all highly hope that the massive reaction made it clear to the band that they need to bring the holy heavy metal mass back to our city in the future and not make this a one-time event. There are only a limited amount of cities on this tour, so if you get the opportunity to see it, do it.
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